Corellon Larethian
| Corellon Larethian | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alignment | Chaotic Good | |
| Divine Rank | Greater God | |
| Pantheon | Elf | |
| Portfolio | Arts, Bards, Crafts, Elves, Magic, Music, War | |
| Domains | Arborea, Chaos, Community, Elf, Good, Magic, Protection, War | |
| Home Plane | Arvandor | |
| Worshippers | Elves, Eladrin, Half Elves, Archers, Bards, Good Leaders, Fighters, Poets, Rangers, Sorcerers, Wizards, Butchers, Bakers, Candlestick makers. | |
| Favoured Weapon | Sahandrian (Longsword) | |
Corellon Larethian is a Chaotic Good, Greater Deity in the Elven Pantheon in the majority of the D&D cosmologies. Though his exact portfolio changes from edition to edition, and between campaign settings. Wherever there is a Seldarine you are likely going to find Corellon leading it. He was briefly the patron of Arcane magic, supposedly having seeded the world with the stuff, as well as having a Neutral alignment. However in the majority of editions he is a CG god of War and Protection, only occasionally branching out into Spellcraft, Community Spirit, Arts and Artisans, Craftsmen and Commanders and all round Mary Sue.
History
When the Gods were born, they set about dividing creation into their kingdoms. Corellon and a bunch of other deities banded together and started calling themselves "the Seldarine". Corellon took the sexiest goddess: Araushnee as his wife and together they started planting forests, introducing animals and generally breathing life into the cosmos. Unfortunately for Corellon, Araushnee had figured she could do the business of running the cosmos herself and was resolved to push her husband off a cliff as soon as he finished building it. She was sleeping around with the other gods, taking Fenmarel Mestarine to bed in an attempt build alliances for her big takeover. The plot was discovered by Sehanine Moonbow, though for varying reasons the truth isn't revealed straight away.
When Gruumsh arose from whatever drunken stupor he'd been in since the dawn of time, he realised that there was nothing left for him to claim and flew into a rage and started chopping down the forests to build walls and machines with in order to make a gigantic fortress for himself. When Corellon politely requested Gruumsh stop what he was doing and maybe go somewhere else, Gruumsh then "kidnapped" Corellon's supermodel wife and held her hostage in his castle, though it was all part of the plot to get rid of her husband.
Corellon did the only reasonable thing you do when you need to storm the battlements: he made a bow. Taking careful aim from a safe distance, he fired over and over. Each hit somehow getting past the emplaced defenses and striking Gruumsh in the ass. Eventually Gruumsh's ass had bled so profusely that the fortress was filled with so much blood that the foundations were weakened, causing the fortress to collapse and Araushnee to escape, though she wasn't happy with the result.
From here the story diverges slightly depending on who's telling the story: either Gruumsh pulled himself from the wreckage then fought Corellon hand to hand and knocked seven shades of shit out of him, and Corellon only wins due to a lucky strike that puts out Gruumsh's eye and ending the fight. After dealing with the duplicity of Araushnee and exiling her, one of the other Goddesses: Sehanine Moonbow, (who may or may not be Corellon's daughter) tends Corellon's wounds and creates the Elven race from mixing her tears with his blood.
In a different telling of the story, it could have been that Sehanine interrupted the fight, crying over Corellon's body; her tears giving him the strength to fight on and put out Gruumsh's eye. Corellon would later marry Sehanine (if she isn't his daughter then) after exiling his unfaithful wife. In this case the race of Elves already existed, or they would be created some other way. Presumably the old fashioned way.
In yet a different version of the story, Corellon managed to shoot out Gruumsh's eye while he was firing arrows over and over, never getting wounded in the first place and the creation of the Elves goes unmentioned. This is presumably the story told whenever Elves aren't the preeminent species, so other races (like Humans or Dwarves) can arise before the Elves do, or when the creation mythology requires the races to arise some other way (like in the Broken Mold story).
A Fourth telling of the story of Araushnee's exile is entirely separate from the conflict with Gruumsh and the race of Elves already exists in their infancy. Instead, Corellon is accidentally struck by an arrow fired by his daughter Eilistraee that had been cursed by his wife to seek out the heart of her husband, while everyone is in despair, Araushnee would invite the gods of evil and their armies into Arvandor to overthrow it. However, consistent with the other tellings of the story: Sehanine Moonbow had still been aware of the plot from earlier and heals Corellon as before, while revealing the truth. When the villainous gods are defeated, Araushnee is still exiled, but Eilistraee goes with her due to the guilt she feels from shooting her father while understanding that Araushnee's mortal followers will need a "good" deity to give them an example to aspire to.
Realm
Corellon and Sehanine reside in the Crescent Grove in the realm of Arvandor, which sits in either the plane of Arborea (in the original cosmology of the Great Wheel) or in the Feywild (as part of the World Axis cosmology).
The Crescent Grove isn't actually a "grove" at all, but is a architectural masterpiece of marble and plantlife towers over the plane and makes for an excellent tourist location.
Worshippers
Needless to say, Corellon's primary followers are elves, though some half-elves worship him too. In 4th edition, he was also a general patron god for wizards, bards and artists, though still mostly favored by humans, elves, half-elves and gnomes.
Champions of Corellon
Followers of Corellon get their very own prestige class. Champions of Corellon Larethian those Elves and Half-Elves who prefer to stand toe to toe with their enemies, rather than turning them into pin-cushions or casting spells at them. Champions are similar to Paladins in that they are required to follow an ethical code set down by their deity; namely that they must aid elves in need, protect the innocent etc. They also get the ability to Lay on Hands like a Paladin, as well as bonus feats that require mounted combat as a prerequisite, though they do not get their own mounted companion.
Seekers of the Misty Isle
Another Prestige Class related to Corellon's defeat of Gruumsh. The epilogue to the story is that Gruumsh teamed up with Kurtulmak to get his revenge once and for all. By claiming the most splendid Elven city: "The Misty Isle" and concealing it in a dimensional space. No-one knows where it is, all that is certain is that the city still thrives somewhere in the multiverse.
An order of divine spellcasters seeks to find the missing city, and they get improved sensory abilities on top of the adding the domains of Magic and Travel to their power sets. Joining the order is by invitation only, and while there is no absolute requirement to serve Corellon directly. The history of the order makes it difficult to justify a divine caster serving anyone else, particularly any non-Elven gods.
Alternatives to Corellon in other D&D Settings
Galaedros
| Galaedros | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alignment | Neutral | |
| Divine Rank | Greater God | |
| Pantheon | Manifest | |
| Portfolio | Elves, Nature, Wood | |
| Domains | Animal, Earth, Plant | |
| Worshippers | Elves, Druids, Rangers. | |
| Favoured Weapon | Quarterstaff | |
In the Ghostwalk setting, Corellon is replaced as the other of the Elves by Galaedros, the Sorrowful King, who is analogous to Corellon in many respects:
He is the creator of the Elven race, but in this case he does not reside in Arborea, simply because the setting does not have an Elven afterlife. Instead Elves become sentient trees, and are protected by Arboreal Guardians who are mortal divine spellcasters who gain their power from Galaedros.
Galaedros also has a similar history to Corellon, in that his wife was a dark skinned, grey haired deity, in this case called Phaant. However in this telling of the story, she turned against him because he spent more time tending the garden of creation than he did with her. The betrayal came when she murdered Galaedros' brother Hunael (who may be standing in for Fenmarel Mestarine in this version of the mythos).
So, like Lolth before her, Phaant was cast out. However because the wounding of Corellon-Galaedros was not directed at him, but emotional instead, he never recovered from it. So he stepped down as King of the Gods, and so the pantheon of Manifest is more or less equal.